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The silly season in American football is officially here. In the pro and college ranks.

I don't mean conference championship games.

I don't mean when coaches and players of NFL teams that are doomed to miss the playoffs start spewing into every pointed microphone that ol' last-ditch bromide: "All we're concerned about is just getting better today. Nothing else."

Rather, I mean the time of year when Jon Gruden's name somehow gets magically attached to almost every newly vacant, or soon-to-be vacant, high-profile coaching job in both the NFL and U.S. college ranks.

It's become as much a part of the cultural fabric of the end of November as newly frozen garden dirt, bored ticket-office personnel at Buffalo Bills HQ, and NHL lockouts.

You could probably crash Google if you dared to dig up all the instances since the late 1990s when Gruden's name has breathlessly surfaced as a potential candidate to replace some stressed-out failure, or greener-pasture seeker.

Some of the reports might not have even been planted by the Gruden 'camp.' OK, to be fair, maybe more than some.

It's not as though Gruden was a great head coach in the NFL. In Oakland from 1998 to 2001, and in Tampa Bay from 2002 (when he led the Bucs to a Super Bowl win) to 2008, he won 54% of his games. That's good. Not great.

But by each December, his name surfaces like bubbles from a freshly poured 7-Up.

Remember? Notre Dame was going after him to replace Bob Davie after 2001! And Tyrone Willingham after 2004! And Charlie Weis after 2009!

Why would Gruden go to Notre Dame? Because his dad assisted Dan Devine there! And Gruden himself went to high school in South Bend! It's a natural!

And remember? Florida wanted him to replace Steve Spurrier after 2001! And Ron Zook after 2004!

And two years ago he was said to be the lead candidate to take over the University of Miami Hurricanes. Or was it the Cleveland Browns?

For the most comprehensive list of Gruden's purported NFL suitors over the past decade, just flip to the standings page. They're listed in groups of four, under eight headings.

The Gruden silly season, 2012 version, fired up in earnest on Monday, with a report contending that "Chucky" would be offered an ownership slice of the Browns if he were to become head coach at the University of Tennessee.

Why would the U of T job appeal to Gruden, who hasn't coached in the college ranks since 1991? Because as desperate fans of the Creamsicles excitedly pointed out, Gruden once was a grad-assistant coach with the Volunteers! And he met his cheerleader wife Cindy on the Knoxville campus!

Twitter burned up until early Wednesday, when both the new owner of the Browns, Jimmy Haslam, and Gruden himself denied there was anything to the report.

We detect a trend. Crazy, breathless report. Then nothing to the report.

Happens over and over.

"I'm just excited about Monday Night Football," Gruden, 49, told ESPN radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning Wednesday. "I like what I'm doing. I'm just trying to hang on to the job that I have."

Gruden has been the commentator/analyst on ESPN's Monday Night Football telecasts since 2009.

Last week, ESPN issued this statement, so as to (unsuccessfully) pre-empt another silly season: "Jon remains committed to ESPN. With a month of our MNF schedule still left to be played this season, Jon is focused on his analyst role and all the preparation that goes into our game each week."

Gruden's 'camp' might not be so focused.

ESPN tired of all the non-stop speculation last November/December. In January it announced Gruden had signed a five-year extension.

"I said I want to get good at this. I was serious about this from the day I started," he said at the time. "I spent 26 or 27 years in coaching, 18 of them in the NFL. I want to focus on this and get better every day.

"I'm fired up."

That did nothing to prevent the Gruden-go-round from igniting again 10 months later.

Of course, he knows what would prevent it. That is, to actually come out and say something definitive, such as the following:

"I not only love the job I have at ESPN, but I will not leave it for any head coaching job that might surface in the NFL or college ranks, period. So the next time you hear my name thrown out there as a potential candidate, don't believe it."

The fact that Gruden never says that, or anything akin to it -- and merely just says he loves what he's doing "now" on TV -- always leaves the door open.

His agent, Bob LaMonte, must love that.

THE REAL GRUDEN FILE

Jon Gruden's name mysteriously surfaces for many high-profile NFL or U.S. college head-coaching vacancies. Here's the much shorter list of coaching jobs he's actually had:

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Jon Gruden silly season is here

The silly season in American football is officially here. In the pro and college ranks.

I don't mean conference championship games.

I don't mean when coaches and players of NFL teams that are doomed to miss the playoffs start spewing into every pointed microphone that ol' last-ditch bromide: "All we're concerned about is just getting better today. Nothing else."

Rather, I mean the time of year when Jon Gruden's name somehow gets magically attached to almost every newly vacant, or soon-to-be vacant, high-profile coaching job in both the NFL and U.S. college ranks.

It's become as much a part of the cultural fabric of the end of November as newly frozen garden dirt, bored ticket-office personnel at Buffalo Bills HQ, and NHL lockouts.

You could probably crash Google if you dared to dig up all the instances since the late 1990s when Gru

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